Machine for closing cans



Oct. 27, 1931. J SPRAGUE 1,829,199

MACHINE FOR CLOSING FANS Filed July 3. 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Oct. 27, 1931. A E 1,829,199

MACHINE FOR CLOSING CANS Filed July 5, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 '31 1 i l i 1 w B W/ Patented Oct. 27, 1931 Units!) STATES PATENT eerie];

ALSON J. SFRAGUE, F MIDDLETOWN, NEW YORK, ASSIGN'GR TO THE BORDEN COM- PANY, O}? KEV- ORK, N. Y., A CORPORATIUN OF NEW JERSEY MACHINE FOR, CLOSING-CANS Application filed J'u1y'3,

This invention relates to an improvement in machines for closing cans or containers.

The object of the invention is to produce an improved machine especially adapted for sealing cans filled with condensed milk or the in is moved downwardly to enter a cap and with the cap held thereon to insert the cap in an opening in the top of a can and swage the cap to seal the can hermetically. Another feature of the invention is the provision of 5 cap inserting and swaging means in which the cap swaging device is operated by a single cam. Another feature of the invention is the provision of cap inserting and swaging means in which the inner member of the 7 2o swaging device is actuated positively in both directions and the outer member has limited movement with reference to the inner memher and is urged to its advanced or lowered position by suitable means such as a spring.

Other features of the invention relate to the LED construction and arrangement of parts whereby the desired results are obtained.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the preferred form of the invention, Fig. 1 is a vertical section taken along the line 1-1 of Fig. 3; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sec tional view showing'the relative positions of the parts of the swaging device at the end of a swaging operation; Fig. 3 is a section taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a development of the cam for operating the swaging device; Fig. 5 is a partial section taken along the line 55 of Fig. 6; and Fig. 6 is a partial section taken along the line 66 of Fig. 5.

The improved mechanism,vas illustrated in the drawings, comprises a cap swaging device; a single cam for actuating said swaging devices to engage a cap, place it in the opening at the top of a can, and then swage the cap to hermetically seal the can; and means to assure proper repositioning of the parts of the swaging device preparatory to another operation thereof. The mechanism for performin such operations is embodied in 1929. Serial No. 375,655.

a machine including can supporting means mounted for rotation about a vertical axis and cooperating with a conveyor which supplies the cans to the rotary can supporting means and removes them therefrom, and means for feeding caps to a position for engagement by the cap swaging device.

ilore specifically, the improved machine includes a central, vertically arranged shaft 1 ournalled at its lower end in a base 2 (which supports all of the operative iarts of the machine) and at its upper end in a bearing 3 in a member 4: fixed in the upper end of a casing 5 resting on the base 2. Fixed on the shaft 1 is a generally cylindrical member or turret 7 which rests on the base 2 and turns thereon, and is utilized to rotate a table or support 8 fixed thereto adjacent to the upper surface of the base 2. The table 8 is provided with shallow seats or sockets 9 to receive the lower ends of cans 10 to be sealed. The shaft 1 also supports other devices including a plurality of cap inserting and swaging devices 11 corresponding in number with the sockets 9. Each of the cans 10 has a central opening 12 in its top 13, which opening is hermetically sealed by inserting therein a cap 1%, (which cap comprises a dish-shaped body portion having at its upper edge a fiat circular rim 16, Fi 2), and properly swaging the inserted cap. For reasons to be brought out hereinafter the seats 9 are located so close to the outer edge of the table 8 that they are incomplete and cans placed therein project beyond said outer edge of the table.

Each swaging device includes a hollow outer member 17 and an inner spreading member 18, the outer member being slotted radially and divided into sectors 19 at its lower eX- tremity. These sectors have shoulders 20 which serve to hold the rim 16 of the cap against the top of the can while the pointed lower edges 21, when expanded or cammed out by the tapered lower end of the inner member 18, operate to expand or bulge outwardly the side walls of the body portion of the cap. Each member 17 is mounted in a slide or cross-head 22 slidably mounted in a groove 22a formed at the outer surface of the an enlargement 2 1. The member 17 is held in the'bore in the slide 22 by a member 25 inserted into the bore from above and provided with an internal screw thread at its lower end so that it may be screwed down over the externalthread on a reduced portion of the member 17 until an enlargement 26 engages the upper side of the slide 22. The inner or expandi'ng member 18 extends downwardly through the member 25 and into the lower end of the member 17 and-is provided with an annular enlargement or flange '27 which lies in a space orbore 28 inthe member 25 above the upper end of the member-17 and thus limits the extent of movement between the members 17 and 18. 7 r

The upper part of the spreading or expanding member 18 is screw/threaded and is screwed into a lug 29 projecting outwardly from a slide 30 guided in the'same groove as the corresponding slide 22, and the position of the lower end of the spreading member 18 with reference to the slide 30 may be regulated by screwing the member 18 up or down in the lug 29 and securing it in position by a lock member or nut '31 screwed onthe member l8 below' the lug 29. A suitable spring 32 surrounding the member 18 and interposed 7 between the upper end of the member 25 and r the lower side of the nut or member 31tends to maintain the. upper side of the fiange'27 in engagement with a shoulder 33 of the member 25 and located at the upper end of the'space 28 and to cause the member 17 to move in' exactly the same way as the member 18 unless caused to move otherwise by some other means. A

- At its upper end the member or slide 30 is provided with a cam follower in the form of awheel or roll 34 which projects into a campath 34a of a suitable cam 34?) positioned at the inside of a downwardlyextending flange 35 at the edge of the fixed member 4, the shape of the'cam path being such that as a swaging device 11 reaches the position indicated at the right of Fig. 1, the roll-3 l will be almost at the left end of the dwell 36 (Fig. 1) and upon movement past this point the roll will pass downwardly in the inclined or depressing portion .37 and depress the swaging device. The lower end of the member 17 will then be pressed into the hollow part of acap 14 advanced along the cap run 88' by any suitable means (not shown) and the pressure exerted'at this stage will not become excessive due to the spring 32. As indicated in Fig. -1,' the caprun 38 includes a steep upper portion i anda lower substantially horizontal portion extending over the path of the cans in the rotatable carrier and along a circulariarc corresponding to the shape of this portion of the can path. This horizontal portion of the cap run extends substantially to the cap inserting point. The cap thus held on the member. 17 will then be inserted into the opening 12 in the top of the corresponding can so that the rim 16 rests on the top of the can, the member 17 being stopped in exactly the proper position by engagement of the slide 22 with an adjustable stop89 in the form of a screw locked in position by a lock nut There is one screw 39 for each swaglng devlce and they are threaded through a support or table ll fixed on the turret 7 Upon further downward movement of the while the roll 34 is passing through the slight decline 12. At the end of the decline 42, the roll 34 will pass up the inclined portion l?) of the path and lift the member 18, the mem ber 17 remaining in its lowest position until the spring 82 has been allowed to expandto the extent required to bring the flange 27 into engagement with the should-er 38 whereupon the member 17 will be moved upwardly with the member18; In order to assure proper longitudinal separation oi the members 17 and 18 when moved upwardly, each slide 22 i-sprovi'ded with a roll 44 adapted to engage a stationary 02111145 (Fig. 6) under suitable circumstances and depress the member 17 with reference to member 18. Upon reachingthe top of the inclined or litti-ng'portion l8 of the cam 341), the roll 34 will again enter the dwell 36. The action just de scribed is carried out by each swaging device during the movement thereof around the axis of the shaft 1. i

The cans may be supplied to and removed as here disclosed, are advanced along a travelling conveyor belt 16 to a suitable transfer device 17 by which they are inserted one by one in successive pockets at the outer sides of U-shaped links of a conveyor chain d8 which moves them along a support 49 to the vicinity of the table 8 where they are moved into posit-ion over-successive seats 8 and permitted to drop into the same. The chain 4:8 rests on the table 8 and passes around a regular polygonal pulley or sprocket wheel 50 immediately above the table 8 and then away from the table and pulley along a support 51, theicans being lifted out of the seats 9 by engagement of portions'thereof projecting 'beyondthe edge of the table with a cam or incline '52 just before the chain begins to leave the pulley.

Itshould' be understood that the links of the conveyor chain 48 are so shaped as to have substantially airtight fits in air locks 53 and 54 at the entrance and exit openings of the casing 5 of a vacuum chamber and prevent the breaking of the vacuum as more clearly and fully'brought out in my copending application,- Serial No. 372,842, tiled June 22nd, 1929. The sealed cans may be removed from the chain in any suitable manner such, for example, as that disclosed in my said copendin application.

In brief recapitulation, the operation is as follows: The cans 10 are fed along a conveyor belt 46 to a suitable transfer device 47 which rotates at such'a rate with reference to the surface speed of the belt 46 and the chain 48 that cans 10 are fed one by one to successive links of the chain 48 and are advanced thereby along a support 49 into register with the depressed seats 9 of the table 8, into which seats the cans drop as they ride off the support 49. Mounted above each of the seats 9 is a swaging device 11' and, substantially at the point where a can is placed in register with a seat 9, the roll 34 of the corresponding operating means leaves the dwell 36 and moves down the inclined portion 37 of the .cam path 34a and causes the outer part 18 of the corresponding swaging device 11 to be pressed yieldably into a cap 14 suitably positioned on the cap run 38 by any suitable means and to carry the cap off the end of the cap run and lower it into the hole in the top of the corresponding can, the downward movement of the part 18 being limited by engagement of the corresponding slide 22 with the corresponding stop 39. Upon further downward movement of the roll 34, due to the decline 42 of the cam path, the inner member or spreader 18 will be moved downwardly in the slotted end of the member 17 and will spread the sectors 19 to cause the pointed edges 21 thereof to efi'ect an outward bulge of the wall of the dish-shaped portion of the cap immediately beneath the edge of the can top around the opening 12, while the shoulders 20 maintain the flange 16 0f the cap in engagement with the top of the can. As

the roll 34 passes up the incline 43, it withdraws the inner member 18 alone until the flange 27 comes into engagement with the shoulder 33 at which time the roll 44 passes beyond the cam 45 and permits the member 17 to rise with the member 18. This occurs before the can reaches the cam 52 and rides up the same to free itself from its seat 9 and permit the chain to remove it from the revolving table or support 8. It will be evident that this operation will be repeated as long as the supply of cans and caps is maintained.

Having thus described the invention what I claim as new is 2-- 1. In a machine for sealing cans each having a hole in one end with caps each having a dish-shaped body and being formed at its upper edge to overlie the part of the corresponding can end around said hole, the combination of means to feed cans in succession through the machine and along a definite path, cap inserting and swaging means including a device movable along said path over a corresponding can and in registertherewith, means to present a cap between such device and can, a single operating cam, and means controlled by said cam for inserting such device in a cap thus presented, inserting the cap in the hole at the end of a can and swaging the cap to secure it in said opening.

2. In a machine for sealing cans each having' a hole in one end with c ps each having a dish-shaped body portion to lit in one of said holes and formed at its upp -1- odge to overlie the part of the corresponding can end around said hole, the comb nation of a swaging device including a hollow outer member having an exgansible lower end and an inner spreader member movable longitudinally in the outer member to expand said expansible lower end of the enter 1 ember, means to limit the separation of said outer and inner members, spring means to separate said outer and inner members, and cam connected with said spreader member to raise an d lower the same and also the outer member.

In a machine for sealin cans each having a hole in one end with caps each having a dish-shaped body portion to fit in one of said holes and formed at its upper edge to overlie the part of the corresponding can end around such hole, the combination of a swaging device including a hollow outer member having an expansible lower end and an inner spreader member movable longitudinally in the outer member to expand said expansible lower end of the outer member, means to limit the separation of said outer and inner members, spring means to separate said outer an d inner members, a cam connected with said spreader member to raise and lower the same and also the outer member, and means to limit the downward movement of the outer member at the cap swaging position and cause expansion thereof by the inner member during further downward movement of the latter.

4. In a machine for sealing cans each having a hole in one end with caps each having a dish-shaped body portion to fit in one of said holes and formed at its upper edge to overlie the part of the corresponding can end around such hole, the combination of a swaging device including a hollow outer member having an expansible lower end and an inner spreader member movable longitudinally in the outer member to expand said expansible lower end of the outer member, means to limit the separation of said outer and inner members, spring means to separate said outer and inner members, a cam connected with said spreader "member to raise and ing a hole in one end with capseach having a dish-shaped body to lit in one-of said holes and formed at its'upper edge to overlie the part otthe corresponding can end around such hole, the combination of a rotatable device including a table having. seats therein to receive cans from above and arranged'at regular intervals in a circle around the axis of rotation of said rotatable device, a cap IlIl". serting and swaging device mounted axially above'each of said seats including a vertically movable outer member with a slotted lower-end having parts to enter the dishshaped body of a cap to spread and swage the same andparts to engage'the cap from above and hold it in position in the hole in the can and an internal member vertically movable in said'outer member, connections between the 1 external and internal members of the swaglng device to lnmt their movement with respect to each other, spring means to hold them apart, means to limit the downward movement of the outer swaging member, and means to operate each spreader including a cam follower projecting externally fromsuch spreader and an operating. .cam' arranged around said rotatable device a corresponding circular arc to a position adjacent to'the cap inserting point, a plurality of cap swaging devices movable'over the circular arc path of the cans and in register with the cans, each of'said swaging devices including an outer expansible swaging memher and an inner expander member connected together for limited movement axially thereof and a spring for separating these members, and means for depressing swaging devices movable over the circular arc path of the cans and in register with the cans, each of said swagmg devices including an outer expansible member and an mner expander member connected together for;

limited movement axiallythereof and a spring for yieldably holding these members separated, means" for depressing saidexpander member to yieldably press theo'uter member of each device into a 'cap in the run, wipe, it elf the end of the run and insert it in the can, and expand the outer member and swage the cap, and for lifting said expander member, a lateral projection on each ofsaid outer members and a downwardly facing cam to be engaged by said projection after the swaging devices have left the swaging zone, thereby tending to knock the outer members downwardly to separate them from the innermembersi ALsoNjafsPRAeUE.

said expander member to yieldably press the V i outer member of each device into a cap in the run, Wipe it off the end of the run and insert it in the can, and then to expand the outer member and swage the cap. V

7. In a machine for sealing cans each having a hole in one end with caps each having a di-sl1-shaped body to lit in one of said holes and formed at its upper edge to overlie the part of the corresponding can end 

